Curious Friday

What an amazing week it was! Liza was featured on Apartment Therapy for her wallpapering ideas, & Daniel Roseberry shared his amazing sketches with us all. This was a week full of curiosity. 
Here are my TOP discoveries of the week.


So, if your in the NYC area and in need of party food, this BBQ Taco truck is AMAZING- they are often found in Tribeca.

If you need a little Spring in the house, head to your local flower market. Your favorite BULBS are blooming everywhere!

Just a splash of spring for this client!

Pillows at a play date- I LOVE all of these patterns!

I just discovered a new fabric shop that hosts the most ADORABLE sewing classes. My daughter, Sophia, will be there every Saturday! Check them out if you have little ones in the NYC area.

Lastly, I thought I would share with you my favorite salsa. This Pico is perfect for those of you heading to a Super Bowl party. My pico is the perfect snack to share. 

My Pico de Gallo

Now, my sister makes the best pico I have ever had, so I try and make it just like her.  This salsa is SO simple. 
Dice a  few tomatoes, jalapeños, half a head of cilantro, one green onion, a splash of lime, and add salt to taste.  Depending how much heat you like will determine how many jalapeños you use as well as whether or not you will include the seeds.  It is literally as easy as that!


Happy Weekending & Get Curious


MEL

When You Hit a Wall...

Our living room boasts one wall of lovely windows, but the other three walls are huge and blank-- a problem that was on my mind from even before we moved in.  I have always been pretty intimidated about hanging things on the wall-- where? what? how high? groups or alone?-- so I began trolling the internet and magazines for some helpful ideas.  One idea I loved was to find a series of prints to frame over the couch that would together fill up a large space and accentuate the room's high ceilings.

Jenny from my favorite read, The Little Green Notebook, posted once about calendars made by Cavellini & Co, an Italian company that prints images with a vintage feel onto high quality paper, which would make a perfect series for hanging.  I love so many of their options, like these vintage maps.

 Or the birds-- I love the colors in these!

In the end I went for the Italia wall calendar, since my husband and I went to Italy on our honeymoon and can't seem to stop going back! So many of the places pictured in the pages of the calendar remind us of happy memories and delicious meals.

Once the calendar arrived I took it to a printer's shop to have the bound edge cut off (rather than me struggle with trying to make all 12 of them perfectly straight).  Always running low on decoration funds, I picked out literally the cheapest frames from IKEA that at all made sense with the size of the pages and just stuck them inside.  Super simple, but it would also look great with painted frames...

Easiest thing ever, and the wall is covered!

Liza

Mr. Roseberry

 When Jake and I first landed in New York, several friends moved here at the same time, one of them being Daniel Roseberry. He is an amazing person, kind, thoughtful, creative, and most would say visionary when it comes to women's design. Here at Mel & Liza, we say, get curious about those around you. 

Mr. Roseberry

I met Daniel in Pittsburgh several years ago.  I remember him sharing sketches while he was just in high school, a mere teenager really.  I was blown away at his pure talent. 
 His work is as natural as breathing, never seeming to be forced or conjured up. It always seems that he just is who he is, never over thinking his work.

Winning designs by Daniel Roseberry 

2008

As the holidays approached us, Daniel so kindly agreed to let us in on his work.  He stayed for supper and drinks, and then we talked. Just like with his fashion, you get nothing from him other than he is--humble and kind--always asking about me and my inspirations.  I tried to keep him on point and peer into his craftsmanship. 

I asked Daniel where his inspiration comes from, and why does he design for women?  Daniel cooly answered that it is cliche to think of men designing for women as having a love/hate relationship with females or, more specifically, mothers.  Daniel is clear that this is not his driving inspiration; rather, women seem to be the vehicle or the form which he enjoys sketching.  Like Daniel, his mother is an artist, and so was his grandmother. 

His drawings are his inheritance. 

Daniel was raised in Dallas, Texas, and I was curious to know how he has been influenced by his childhood surroundings. At this point in his life Daniel knows that his environment has subconsciously affected his design; however it is not clear as to how. 

What Daniel does know is at a very young age, as soon as he could pick up a crayon, he has been drawing. Even as a young boy he drew women, Betty Boop, Jessica Rabbit, high heals.  From the beginning it has always been women's design.  

Soon after winning a prominent award from FIT for the beautiful sketches above, he found himself working at Thom Browne.

Known for men's design, Thom Browne provided Daniel the perfect place to stretch his wings in a place that needed vision for women. 


Fall 2011

Via New York Times

You must You Tube the Fall 2011 show!  Thom Browne, inspired by his catholic upbringing, took the nunnery to another level. In addition, you will never listen to the Sound of Music the same way again.

Spring 2012

Via the New York Times


The Spring 2012 show was all about indulgence, channeling the Great Gatsby into the New York Library.  The collection is whimsical, beautiful, feminine and fanciful. 


It is always so inspiring to be with those who create and design with such freedom and what appears to be ease.  Daniel's work is not forced or contrived, but natural, fearless, and full of vision.  


 Thank You Mr. Roseberry!




Mel